1967 Camaro Front Suspension Rebuild - Night & Day

Taking the slop out of a '67 Camaro with CPP suspension and steering components.

You wouldn't drive your old Chevy if the engine was knocking, and you wouldn't drive it if the floor pans were rusted out, so why would you drive it with a completely worn-out front suspension and steering system?

2/29

That's what we found ourselves wondering every time we slid behind the wheel of this '67 Camaro. It has a new flat-black paintjob and a fresh small-block in it, but the car was on the border of being dangerous when it came time to hit the street. Lots of body roll, steering slop, and unpredictable darting gave us good reason to revamp the front end, so we called up the folks at Classic Performance Products (CPP). Quick to answer our questions and provide a few solutions for the handling problems, the CPP staff pointed us in the right direction with one of its Performance Plus front-end kits, a sway-bar kit, and a 500-series power steering box.

With a budget of $1,500, we had a couple hundred dollars to spare after making the order at CPP, but we did spend a few bucks to have the new bushings pressed in and the front end aligned. Before deciding on the complete front-end rebuild, we replaced the shocks, brake calipers, and brake hoses to at least get the car on the road, but these few parts did very little to help its driving characteristics. Our idea behind the CPP kit installation is to showcase a project that can be accomplished in a home garage with no lift, no special tools, and no high-end components--this is a real-world suspension rebuild for the average Camaro.

The CPP Performance Plus front-end kit came with control-arm bushings, ball joints, tie-rod ends (inner and outer), coil springs, shocks, and an idler arm. We also sprang for a CPP 500-series steering box and a new pitman arm to make sure every possible problem area had been covered. It was hard to resist putting a bigger sway bar on the car, so a CPP 1-1/8-inch sway-bar kit also found its way into our order.

In a matter of two hours after pulling the car into the garage, we had stripped all of the front suspension components from the car. While it was torn apart, we scrubbed the subframe with a wire brush and put a fresh coat of paint on it. The control arms received the same treatment after installing the bushings and ball joints. Suspension reassembly was a straightforward process, and we saved all of the steering components for last.

Our total time investment, and the complete rebuild took us approximately 12 hours. Except for having the new control arm bushings installed, we did the whole upgrade in a small shop with ordinary handtools, and the result is a well-mannered car that drives better than ever. Thanks to CPP and our buddy Terrance Willis, we made a night-and-day difference in this '67 Camaro and stayed well under our target budget. Having a car you feel safe driving is great, especially when it's a marked improvement over stock.

Sources

MORE PHOTOS

VIEW FULL GALLERY

xclose

1967 Camaro Front Suspension Rebuild - Night & Day

1 At first glance, it looks like all of the front suspension and steering components are original, so it's no wonder the car drove so erratically. The Camaro didn't have shocks when we got it, so we stuck a set of cheap parts-store shocks on it for the time being.

1 At first glance, it looks like all of the front suspension and steering components are original, so it's no wonder the car drove so erratically. The Camaro didn't have shocks when we got it, so we stuck a set of cheap parts-store shocks on it for the time being.

3 After removing the cotter pin and loosening the lower ball joint nut, we placed a jack beneath the control arm to slowly relieve the coil spring’s tension. It usually takes several solid blows with a hammer to knock the ball joint loose, and Terrance eventually used a fork to separate the ball joint from the spindle.

2 Sway bar bolts were the first to be removed. Once loosened, the sway bar was a bit tricky to snake out from under the car with the rest of the front suspension installed.

5 The control arms are fairly easy to remove, but it usually takes a bit of careful hammering to get the lower control-arm bolts out. Once they're clear, the control arms can be removed. The upper control arms are very easy to remove, with two easy-to-reach nuts attaching the cross-shafts.

4 Now this is a great comparison and a big clue toward our Camaro's terrible handling. At some point, a previous owner had lowered the car by heating the coil springs, and this is the result. The new coil springs from CPP feature a 2-inch drop, so we'll get the same stance and much better performance.

6 With all of the suspension components removed, it was a good time to wire-brush the underside of the car and give it a fresh coat of paint. Obviously, if this were a full restoration, we'd want to sandblast and professionally refinish the subframe, but semi-gloss rattle can paint will work for this project.

7 The CPP Performance Plus front-end kit comes with new control-arm bushings, which can be a hassle to remove and install. Instead of attempting to do the work at home, we took the control arms to Travis Wilson at Wilson Performance & Offroad.

8 Using an air chisel, Travis made quick work of the old bushings and sleeves in the upper control arms, making sure not to damage the cross-shafts in the process.

9 Travis used a plasma cutter to slice a piece of scrap tubing and create this tool, which helped him press in the new sleeves. The slot allows the tubing to fit around the cross shaft, because it must be in place before the new sleeves are pressed in.

10 After pressing in the new sleeves for the upper control arms, it was easy to get them ready to re-install on the car. The CPP kit came with all of the necessary stuff to complete the job.

11 The lower control arm took a little longer, as it requires a spacer to be installed between the two flanges to prevent distortion when the sleeves are being pressed in and out. Travis uses a piece of flat stock as a uniform surface and a short piece of round tubing on the inside so the sleeve can pass through.

12 Ball joints can sometime be a pain to remove, but ours seemed dangerously easy to press out of the control arms. The new ones can either be pressed in or carefully hammered into place. If you decide to use a socket for your hammering surface, be sure to use an impact socket.

13 The Camaro still had the factory ball joints, as evidenced by the original rivet attachment. The new ball joints from CPP bolt in, so once the originals were removed, the new ones simply bolted into place.

14 After a few hours of control-arm work, it was time to get back under the car. Our buddy Terrance helped us throughout the entire project, and was always willing to get down and dirty beneath the car.

15 Before installing the new springs, we hung the sway bar and got the bolts started. This isn't essential, but it makes it easier to install when the springs aren't in the way.

16 The CPP Performance Plus kit also came with new bumpstops, so we bolted them into place before getting too carried away with the reassembly process.

17 The newly reassembled upper control arms can be bolted into place. We put the shims back to the previous owner's arrangement, knowing they would be altered during the front-end alignment. These shims adjust caster and camber.

18 Spindles are next to be installed, and we reused the stock units. With the CPP 2-inch drop springs, a drop spindle would've sat the Camaro too low for this application. The CPP ball joints came with new castle nuts and cotter pins.

19 Using a floor jack beneath the lower control arm, we compressed the spring and slid the lower ball joint through the spindle. From there, we tightened the lower ball joint and removed the jack.

20 With both sides of the front suspension reassembled, we moved onto the steering components. After removing the original tie-rod assembly, we adjusted the new components to match. Again, these would ultimately be fine-tuned at the alignment shop, but this would get us in the ballpark.

21 Terrance used a fork on many of the stubborn joints, including the idler arm. The steering components on this car were shot!

22 The new idler arm went into place easily, and Terrance then installed the tie-rod assembly on the passenger side. He would wait to install the driver-side tie-rod assembly until after the steering box swap.

23 Without question, the steering box is in tight confines, so it took two pairs of hands to get the old one out and the new one in. The CPP 500-series power steering box features a 14:1 ratio, which is perfect for our '67 Camaro.

24 Along with the new box, we picked up a new rag joint and a billet aluminum cover to finish off the new steering setup.

25 No more wandering, and no more slop in the steering wheel!

26 Before and after. You can see a huge difference in our parking lot body-roll tests from the heated coils and worn-out bushings to the new drop coil springs, fresh bushings, and 1-1/8-inch sway bar.

26a Obviously, the skinny front tires prevented us from really thrashing on the car in the corners, but it's certainly a huge improvement overall! (Photos by Christina Byrd)